World Bank has rated Ondo State high on Performance-Based Financing (PBF) in the ongoing Nigeria State Health Investment Project (NSHIP) in the country, especially on the improvement of maternal and child health service quality and outcomes.

The World Bank representative, Dr. Frish Yuril, disclosed this during the NSHIP Midterm Review (MTR) meeting held in Akure at the weekend.He rated the state highest in performance among the two other states participating in the World Bank- assisted project.

Yuril, while assessing the NSHIP outcomes in Ondo State, defined PBF as “a form of incentive where health providers are, at least, partially, funded on the basis of their performance to meet targets or undertake specific actions. It is defined as fee-for-service-conditional- on-quality.”

The state Project Coordinator, Dr. Hadijat Mobolanle Ige, said the review was paramount to assess the level of services delivered to the communities by the health workers, who signed the NSHIP contract in 2011 when it kicked off.

She added that it was also to ascertain the impact of the project in the state and country as a whole, saying the review was to assess it holistically to know what is needed to be corrected and improved upon.She said the process would enable them to know the areas that need more attention.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Wahab Adegbenro, said one of the project approaches was pre-piloted in Ondo East local councils in 2011 for one year and scaled up to eight more local councils in 2014, with a plan to exit in 2020.

Adegbenro, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Taiye Oni, said the project had put in place structures that enhance financial transparency and strengthen existing mechanism for effective engagement with the communities.
He said the assessment would identify and address operational gaps.